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Nationwide polio vaccination campaign successfully completed in Iraq
Baghdad, Iraq, 14 April 2014 – The Ministry of Health of Iraq, with the support of UNICEF and the World Health Organization, has successfully completed a nationwide polio vaccination campaign, the first of its kind following a confirmed case of polio reported by the Ministry of Health in Baghdad on 30 March 2014, 14 years after Iraq had been declared polio free.
The campaign wrapped up in the governorates of Diwaniya, Duhok, and Najaf on 14 April 2014. Field independent monitoring activities have begun and will last for the next four days, implemented by WHO through teams recruited from the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS). Complete campaign coverage data will be shared with the media at the earliest opportunity.
The nationwide immunization rounds were scheduled to cover all parts of Iraq; WHO's collaborative response to the outbreak is meant to reach the millions of vulnerable children under the age of 5. Health teams confirmed that the number of vaccinated children was increasing. Dr Ahmed Zuhdi, Director of Seidya Primary Health Care Centre in Seidya area southwest of Baghdad, said that the number of vaccinated children in the said area for 10 April reached 1834 . The head of the immunization unit in the said primary health care centre Dr Israa Jameel Najim, also added: "The current vaccination rounds witnessed unexpected eagerness by parents to have their children vaccinated."
Each primary health care centre has a vaccination team, in addition to the mobile teams distributed to areas of the capital Baghdad and governorates according to a plan put forward by primary health care centre directors and heads of the immunization units. Staff from WHO Baghdad Office voluntarily joined random vaccination teams in their field missions in some areas of Baghdad and reported admirable attendance of parents to vaccinate their children and dedication of vaccinators' teams to fulfill their task as efficiently as required. The long queue of families standing before the vaccination team in one centre in Baghdad to give their children the polio drops was remarkable. Mr Saad Abbas Muhamed, leader of a vaccination team in another centre in Baghdad said: "Many of the houses we visited informed us that they had given their children the vaccine in centres days ago; they did not even wait for the field teams to come to them with the vaccine."
Part of this massive immunization campaign success relates to people's awareness on the importance of vaccinating children below the age of 5; clerics, moreover, announced during Friday prayer preaches, the availability of vaccines in primary health care centres and urged populations to immunize their children and cooperate with the mobile vaccinators' teams visiting them in order to vaccinate their children.
For more information, please contact:
Ms Ajyal Sultany, Communications Officer, (+964)7809-269-506,
Ms Wasan Al Tamimi, Program Officer, (+964) 7809-269-512 ,
Iraq celebrates World Health Day 2014
Baghdad, Iraq, April 7, 2014 – With the slogan “Small bite, big threat”, The World Health Organization (WHO) celebrates World Health Day on 7 April 2014 focusing on the serious threat of vector-borne diseases and emphasizing the importance of vector control and availability of safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
The theme of the World Health Day 2014 "Preventing vector-borne diseases" is designed to scale up awareness on the risk impacted by vector-borne diseases and to encourage the world’s population to protect themselves against the threat of vectors that cause disease.
“The poorest population is most at risk of vector-borne disease due to lack of safe drinking-water and sanitation, improper housing, and malnutrition. These factors weaken this population immunity,” said Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain, WHO Representative for Iraq. He added: “Over 15% of the global burden of infectious diseases is vector-borne diseases; malaria alone caused the death of 660 000 people in 2010.”
WHO reports indicate that more than half the world’s population is under the threat of diseases like malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis, Lyme disease, schistosomiasis, and yellow fever carried by mosquitoes, flies, ticks, water snails and other vectors. Yet the organization emphasizes that these diseases are entirely preventable.
Vector-borne diseases merit global attention; the public health community faces serious challenges in tackling these diseases and outlining what governments, local authorities, community groups, the private sector and individuals can do to prevent disease.
“A global health agenda that gives higher priority to vector control could save many lives and avert much suffering. Simple, cost-effective interventions like insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor spraying have already saved millions of lives,” says Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General. “No one in the 21st century should die from the bite of a mosquito, a sand fly, a blackfly or a tick.” She added.
Dr Alaa Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, outlined some of the challenges pertaining to the prevention of vector-borne diseases saying: “There are things people can do to protect themselves. Keep the environment clean. Use personal protection, such as insect repellent. Sleep under bed nets, cover water containers, and get rid of stagnant water from places where mosquitoes breed, such as unused containers, flower pots, old tyres, broken glass and roof gutters,”
The World Health Day on 7 April every year marks the foundation anniversary of the World Health Organization in 1948. A priority area of public health concern is selected each year to diagnose lifesaving problems and urge governments and decision-makers to address them in a systematic way.
United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) photogallery
